In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, heart containers represent the number of lives Link has before reaching game over. By default, you will start your adventure with 3 heart containers, but this can increase as you collect heart pieces scattered all over the game. Four heart pieces make a heart container, so here is a guide on finding these 36 heart pieces.

Steps

Part 1

Collect Heart Pieces as a Child

1

Search the Lost Woods. There are 2 heart pieces that can be collected in the Lost Woods as a child.

Look for the Skull Kid at the left side of the entrance and play Saria’s Song. He will then give you a heart piece.

You have to win a memory game in order to obtain the next heart piece. This mini game should be won 3x. Just look for the Skull Kid at the right side of the entrance in the grotto to play the minigame.

2

Search Lon Lon Ranch. Go to Lon Ranch and look for a door southeast edge of the ranch. Enter the door and work your way in by pushing blocks until you reveal a hidden passage at the corner. Crawl forward and you will have a heart piece.

3

Search Hyrule Castle Town. You can find 3 heart pieces within Hyrule Castle Town as a child.

You will need to help a lady to look for his lost dog and must be done at night. The white dog will be in the town center just near the bazaar. Interact with it and it will then follow you. Bring the white dog back to its owner to win a heart piece.

Simply complete the Treasure Chest game and you will be awarded with a heart piece.

The last heart piece in this area can be won randomly. You should play the Bombchu Bowling game and hopefully you will receive the heart piece prize.

4

Search Kakariko Village. Another heart piece random prize can be won by playing Dampe’s Heart-Pounding Grave-digging Tour.

5

Search Death Mountain. Go to Darunia’s house and light the 4 torches surrounding the pot at the bottom of Goron City. Then go to the second level and use a Bomb Flower to stop the spinning pot. Throw it on top of the spinning pot and it will stop spinning revealing 3 faces. These faces depend on the timing of your throw. You can also use the bombs you get from Dodongo’s Cavern if you have them available. The objective is to make the pot stop on happy to obtain a heart piece.

6

Search Zora’s River. There are 3 heart pieces that you can collect as a child in Zora’s River.

Play the Song of Storms to the frogs situated on the log in the middle area. They will give you a heart piece.

You can earn another heart piece from the frogs by completing the bug-catching minigame.

Go to the waterfall and make the chest visible by lighting up the torches near and behind the waterfall. You can do this by using a Deku Stick or Din’s Fire. Inside this chest you will find a heart piece.

7

Search Lake Hylia. The challenge here is to catch a 9 pound fish in the Fishing Pond as a child. Once successful, you will be rewarded with a heart piece.

Part 2

Collect Heart Pieces as an Adult

1

Search Hyrule Field. On the northwest of Lake Hylia you will find a tree not so distant from a river. All you need to do is use your bomb right next to this tree to reveal a hole with water. Now, you need to have the Iron Boots or Golden Scale to acquire a heart piece at the bottom.

2

Search Kakariko Village. Exploring Kakariko Village as an adult Link will reward you 2 more heart pieces.

Go to Kakariko Graveyard and use your Longshot on top of the second closest grave. Shoot on the crate and ride on the platform. Get the heart piece inside the broken crate. Alternatively, you can plant a magic bean in the soil near the ledge as a child and return there as an adult. You then ride the platform and break the crate.

Now as an adult, you can race Dampe again and you must finish in at least one minute. You will be awarded with a heart piece when successful.

3

Search Death Mountain. As a child, plant a magic bean in the nearby soil while at the Death Mountain Crater. Then ride the platform and go reach the heart piece as an adult.

4

Search Lake Hylia. Again, you need to plant a magic bean outside the laboratory. Then return there as an adult and ride the platform on the roof. Climb up the observatory towards a heart piece. There is an alternative way of getting the heart piece in Lake Hylia as an adult, but you should start as a child. As a child, you should teach the scarecrow in the garden the Scarecrow’s Song. Then as an adult, while you are near the laboratory, play the Scarecrow’s Song and that will call the scarecrow on the roof. From here, you should climb up the roof by using your Longshot or Hookshot. Use the ladder then to get to the heart piece.

5

Search Zora’s Fountain. You can find 3 more heart pieces all over Zora’s Fountain.

First heart piece is on top of an ice platform that can be reached by hopping your way through several rotating ice platforms. Be careful not to fall!

For the second heart piece in Zora’s Fountain, all you have to do is sink to the bottom of the lake using your Iron Boots and find the heart piece.

Go to the Ice Cavern and melt the red ice beside the blue fountain on one of the side rooms. There you will find a heart piece. In Master Quest, the heart piece will be in a different room, where the compass is. Use a bomb to activate the switch buried under the ice in the center of this room. This will remove the block that is covering the heart piece.

6

Search Gerudo Valley. You can find the last 3 heart pieces in Gerudo Valley as an adult.

You will find a heart piece on top of a building. It is inside a chest and is accessible only of you use you Longshot to reach it. You can also get this heart piece by summoning Pierre by playing the Scarecrow’s Song then using your Hookshot to reach the platform.

Simply score at least 1000 points in the Horseback Archery game to win a heart piece.

Warp to the Desert Colossus as a child by using the Requiem of Spirit then find the spot where you can plant your magic bean. Then as adult, return and ride a platform towards the heart piece.

Part 3

Collect Heart Pieces either as a Child or an Adult

1

Search Hyrule Field. You can bomb center of the fenced in area near the entrance to Lake Hylia to reveal a hole. There you will find a Business Scrub that will sell you a heart piece for 10 rupees.

2

Search Kakariko Village. There are 5 heart pieces that can be collected in Kakariko Village regardless if you are an adult or a child.

Simply collect 50 Gold Skulltula to obtain a heart piece.

To get the heart piece in the windmill as an adult, you need to complete Dampe’s race then you will find yourself in the windmill. As a child, you can get hold of this heart piece by using your boomerang.

You will get the next heart piece from a man on top of a purple roof. Get to him by using your Longshot and talk to him to get a heart piece. Alternatively, if all you have a Hookshot, you can enter the potion shop and exit through the back. Now, standing on the corner of the farthest door, your Hookshot should be able to reach the purple roof already. Another way, and a bit harder way, is to jump exactly at the right angle to reach the fence near the blue roof. Climb up and then you will be able to reach the top of the purple roof. As a child, you can try jumping sideways on the tower in the village. This is really tricky but with some luck, you will eventually land on a fence beside the house.

Right after you obtain the heart piece from the man on the purple roof, jump off the roof and walk on the porch of the Windmill Building. Using your Hookshot, ascend to the building on the left and then to the top of the Cucco pen. There’s a hole in the building that you can enter. Find the heart piece next to the cow. Alternatively, as a child, the easiest way to acquire the heart piece is by rising the owl from the summit or Dear Mountain straight to the rooftop of Impa’s house in Kakariko Village. You can also do it by jumping while holding a Cucco off of the construction area and using it to float to the platform where the hole is.

Go to Kakariko Graveyard and go on top of a grave. This grave will be the fourth one in on the right is another grave that can be moved to reveal an entrance. You will find a Re-dead inside. Play the Sun’s Song to make a chest appear. While on the platform, you can freeze the Re-dead or just steal the loot and escape. Inside the chest is a heart piece.

3

Search Death Mountain. There are 2 heart pieces that can be found in Death Mountain as child and adult Link.

Go to the Death Mountain Trail just outside the entrance to Dodongo’s Cavern and plant a magic bean. You can then ride the platform right above the entrance to get the heart piece. You can also get this heart piece as a child by doing a back flip over the wall where the Bomb Flower near Goron City is to land on the platform with the heart piece.

On the Death Mountain Crater, you can either ride the bean platform or climb down the wall to the heart piece.

4

Search Zora’s River. You can find 2 more heart pieces as child or adult Link in Zora’s river.

First, you need to take the Cucco at the Hyrule Field end then travel to the small rise near the Water Tektites. Jump off and let yourself float towards the platform where the heart piece is. Another way of getting the heart piece is by planting a magic bean near the Bean Seller as a child. Then as an adult, return to this location and ride the platform, time your jump to get to the heart piece. Alternatively, you can just use your boomerang to claim the heart piece.

For the second heart piece, again, you will need to get the Cucco and bring it to the waterfall. In order to ascend, you will need to let go of it at times. Just make sure not to throw the Cucco in the water. Once you reach the waterfall, you can now float your way to the heart piece. Again, you can use your boomerang to get the heart piece the easier way.

5

Search Lake Hylia. You will need to have Golden Scale to get the heart piece from this area. You will need to dive to the bottom of the pool in the laboratory and talk to the professor to get the heart piece.

6

Search Gerudo Valley. The last 2 heart pieces that can be obtained regardless of Link being an adult or a child are located in Gerudo Valley.

As a child, plant a magic bean on the stone platform along the cliff. As an adult, ride the platform and jump through the waterfall to reach the heart piece. You can also use your Iron Boots and walk underwater then up the river.

Simply fall into the ledge along the cliff (Hyrule side) then use the Longshot to navigate your way to a crate. This crate contains the last heart piece. You can also use the Cucco to glide your way to the crate as a child.